Baroness Amos: The agreement to purchase the St Louis Order property was made on 30 June 2004. This took the form of a legal conveyancing agreement between the two parties of the Middletown Centre for Autism (Holdings) Limited, a company limited by guarantee, and the St Louis Order. The purchase agreement was primarily negotiated by legal advisers and officials of the Departments of Education North and South, and was negotiated in the months prior to the purchase on 30 June 2004. The main provisions of the agreement were for the purchase of the property, which comprised the former St Joseph's Adolescent Centre and the former St Louis Primary School, a licence for access by the order to the graveyard on the site and a separate leaseback arrangement for the convent and the chapel on the site. As the agreement is between the above two parties the department will write to them in advance of making the agreement public to inform them of this, and I will then place a copy in the Library. Here are links to the documents comprising the agreement: Purchase Agreement (Part 1)
	Purchase Agreement (Part 2)
	Schedule 3
	Appendix 1
	Appendix 2
	Appendix 3

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: UK law enforcement agencies have received reports of unsolicited e-mails seeking to solicit money fraudulently, which it is claimed will be used either to support the tsunami relief effort, locate loved ones who may have been lost in the disaster, or release inheritance funds tied up with the disaster. It has also been noted that false websites have been established related to relief donations which actually spread computer viruses.
	The National Criminal Intelligence Service has issued public advice and guidance regarding these and other similar scams, and investigations are ongoing by UK law enforcement into tracing those individuals who participate in such schemes, and taking appropriate action against them.

Lord Whitty: Evidence from postmortem examination and live clinical sampling suggests that the principal route of Mycobacterium bovis infection among badgers is likely to be respiratory. However, M. bovis has also been isolated from bite wounds, although, whether these resulted from transmission by biting or haematogenous spread following another portal of entry is unclear.

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by Lord Whitty on 7 February (WA 90), why the Independent Scientific Group has refused to disclose the results of post mortems on badgers; whether the results are known to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and whether the results should be in the public domain.

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many badger carcasses were examined by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food between (a) 1974 and 1995; (b) 1996 and 1998; and (c) 1998 and 2004 in the United Kingdom; how many were found to be positive for mycobacterium bovis; and what are the numbers in each case for England and Wales, and for each county within England and Wales.

Lord Whitty: The table below shows the total number of badger carcasses examined, and the number found positive for Mycobacterium bovis, between 1974–95 and 1996–98 in Great Britain and for each county in England and Wales.
	We are unable to supply figures for 1998–2004 as the majority of badgers caught during this period were taken as part of the ongoing badger culling trial. The Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB advises that these results should not be disclosed at present to avoid either encouraging illegal action against badgers or deterring participation in the badger culling trial. However, information on the location of badgers killed in road traffic accidents, where TB is diagnosed, is released to divisional veterinary managers to inform the measures they take with respect to disease control in cattle in the vicinity.
	Table: Total number of badger carcasses examined, and the number found positive for M. bovis, between 1974–95 and 1996–98 in Great Britain and for each county in England and Wales.
	
		
			  1974–95   1996–98  
			 Region/County Number ofbadgersexamined Numberpositive forM. bovis Number ofbadgersexamined Numberpositive forM. bovis 
			 Avon 3,118 447 414 62 
			 Bedfordshire 36 -- -- -- 
			 Berkshire 32 -- -- -- 
			 Buckinghamshire 138 -- -- -- 
			 Cambridgeshire 35 -- -- -- 
			 Cheshire 297 1 35 -- 
			 Cleveland 1 -- -- -- 
			 Clwyd 59 2 -- -- 
			 Cornwall 8,157 964 2,027 315 
			 Cumbria 121 -- 1  
			 Derbyshire 256  35 -- 
			 Devon 4,005 521 1,221 207 
			 Dorset 2,120 111 335 83 
			 Durham 17 -- -- -- 
			 Dyfed 734 12 131 7 
			 East Sussex 873 45 125 52 
			 Essex 311 1 -- -- 
			 Gloucestershire 7,630 1,325 1,240 349 
			 GreaterManchester 3 -- -- -- 
			 Greater London 2 -- -- -- 
			 Gwent 205 12 133 42 
			 Gwynedd 33 1 -- -- 
			 Hampshire 169 -- -- -- 
			 Hereford &Worcester 757 55 946 362 
			 Hertfordshire 219 -- -- -- 
			 Humbershire 8 -- -- -- 
			 Isle Of Wight 7 -- -- -- 
			 Kent 186 1 -- -- 
			 Lancashire 13 -- 4 -- 
			 Leicestershire 438 -- 1 -- 
			 Lincolnshire 82 -- 1 -- 
			 Merseyside 4 -- -- -- 
			 Mid Glamorgan  -- -- -- 
			 Middlesex 22 -- --  
			 Norfolk 4 -- -- -- 
			 North Yorkshire 31 -- 1 -- 
			 Northamptonshire 197 -- -- -- 
			 Northumberland 47 -- -- -- 
			 Nottinghamshire 27 -- 3 -- 
			 Oxfordshire 78 1 7 -- 
			 Powys 288 -- 2 -- 
			 Shropshire 144 1 98 3 
			 Somerset 1,500 79 532 83 
			 South Glamorgan 7  1 -- 
			 South Yorkshire 7 -- 1 -- 
			 Staffordshire 356 4 223 21 
			 Suffolk 41 1 -- -- 
			 Surrey 130 2 -- -- 
			 Tyne & Wear 10 -- -- -- 
			 Warwickshire 241 -- -- -- 
			 West Glamorgan 13 --  1 
			 West Midlands 32 1 -- -- 
			 West Sussex 42 --  -- 
			 West Yorkshire 18 --  -- 
			 Wiltshire 2,964 361 457 154 
			  
			 Wales total 1,346 27 273 50 
			 England total 34,926 3,921 7,707 1,691 
			 Scotland total 34 1  0 
			  
			 GB total 36,306 3,949 7,980 1,741 
		
	
	Data provided by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency on 7 February 2005.

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why no badger carcasses from Gwent were examined for mycobacterium bovis between 1996 and 1998.

The Countess of Mar: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why no badger carcasses from Shropshire were examined for mycobacterium bovis between 1974 and 1978.

Lord Whitty: Directive 2003/111/EC has been implemented in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The UK will complete its implementation in Spring 2005 when the Directive is transposed in Wales.
	The department does not hold information regarding the implementation of directives in other member states. The European Commission is responsible for monitoring the transposition of Community law. Each year, the Commission draws up a report on the monitoring of the application of Community law in all member states. This report is available on the Commission's website (www.europa.eu.int/comm). The most recent report outlines the position for directives with implementation dates in 2003. The report to be published later in 2005 will summarise progress for directives with implementation dates in 2004, including directive 2003/111/EC.

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the timetable laid down in Section 6(3) of the Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) (No. 2) Regulations is the same for all other European Union member states; and whether it is rigorously enforced by each of them.

Lord Whitty: The requirements laid down in regulation 6(3) of the Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) (No. 2) Regulations 2004 implement provisions set out in EU Directives 91/68/EEC for sheep and goats and 64/432/EEC for cattle and pigs.
	These directives apply to and must be implemented by all member states. The EU Commission's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) visits member states to check on the implementation and enforcement of this and other EU legislation.
	The timetable for such visits is set annually by the FVO. Following a visit, the FVO produce a written report. This report highlights any deficiencies in implementation. The member state concerned is required to produce an action plan setting out remedial action. If the action plan is not followed and the member state does not comply with the requirements of the legislation, one of the courses of action open to the EU Commission is to take legal proceedings (that is, infraction proceedings) against the offending member state.

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How much was spent on taxis for departmental purposes by the Department for Transport in the last two years.